2 The Beginning of Su Xueying’s Journey (II)

Meanwhile, as Xueying browsed through the streets in Danyan's capital gleefully, her personal maid, Xiaosu, was worriedly running through the smooth, paved paths inside the palace. Her footsteps echoed, and her heartbeat raced.

As the princess's personal maid, it was Xiaosu's responsibility to always watch over the princess, but today, since the princess was studying with Tutor Zhang, Xiaosu thought that it would be alright to bring a few of the princess's favorite pastries and snacks, as well as a cup of tea for her to consume when the lesson was over. She knew that Princess Xueying was always drained at the end of the lessons with the tutor, so she thought that the pastries would be something energizing.

It made sense as well. It wasn't that the princess wasn't intelligent, just that Tutor Zhang had such an interest in ancient philosophers— or, as the princess called, 'the dead old men'— that every lesson was either nonsensical poems and concepts or ancient artifacts to analyze. When Xiaosu listened into one or two of the lessons, she could barely understand what the tutor was trying to convey by having Princess Xueying memorize all of those. With the princess's lack of intent for hard work, it was obvious to say that she wouldn't even attempt to comprehend any words that came out of the tutor's mouth.

Yet when she arrived at the library where the princess was having her lessons, the sight in front of her was enough to make her drop the plate of pastries and tea in surprise. It was a wreck of guards and servants running around frantically, waving their hands in fear.

When Xiaosu asked what had happened, another maid reported to her that Tutor Zhang was summoned to the palace by the emperor, and once seeing that the tutor was gone, the princess immediately ran out of the library so quickly that no one could possibly stop her.

No wonder everyone around the library seemed so frantic. It was their responsibility to keep the princess safe, and to say that the princess escaped from their watch meant that the princess was under the chance of danger at any time. Even if Princess Xueying turned out to be safe, simply strolling through the gardens, blame would still be put on all them for their incompetence at guarding her.

She was the princess of Danyan, for heaven's sake. They had to keep an eye on her at all times.

This led to Xiaosu's current state, running in the direction of the princess's villa, the last spot in the palace that Princess Xueying could possibly be at. If she wasn't there, Xiaosu would have to take extra measures, which was certainly going to be troublesome.

The servants working in the princess's courtyard gawked at her upon seeing Xiaosu, the normally calm and collected maid serving behind the princess, holding the highest rank among the princess's servants, out of breath and frantically running through the rooms. They didn't know what had happened, and perhaps that was a good thing. Otherwise, all of them would be equally as agitated as Xiaosu. If the princess did get herself in danger, they would be punished just as much as the guards who were watching her in the first place.

Xiaosu ran through the rooms, opening each one in hopes to see Princess Xueying's face, only to be met with more and more empty rooms.

At last, after looking through the princess's bedroom, Xiaosu could only stop. No matter what, the princess definitely couldn't be in the villa. She paused for a few moments, thinking if there was any other place Princess Xueying could possibly be at, but she couldn't think of a single other location besides out of the palace.

Spinning around, Xiaosu turned to the exit of the room, heading out of the villa and in the direction of the library. If that was how it worked, then she must get those guards to search for the princess. Princess Su Xueying was not going to go missing.

…

Xueying was having fun, completely unaware of the chaos that was happening near the library of the palace.

In her right hand, she held a thin wooden stick, which on the top, rested a thin sculpture of a butterfly created from caramelized sugar. She purchased it just recently. In her left hand, she swung a jade amulet that she bought from a vendor before she purchased the butterfly candy.

Across the street, there seemed to be another attraction of a man performing some sort of art. Eyes lighting up, Xueying turned to head there to watch the man, but a loud noise caused her to jump back. Slightly turning around, a row of guards trampled through the crowd, hurriedly moving as if they were looking for something— or, someone.

Xueying shrunk back in the crowd, steadying her heartbeat as she told herself that there would be no chance that the guards would spot her amidst so much people, including the fact that she was disguised as a man. Still, to be sure, for precautionary measures, she turned away from the guards and headed in the first building she saw near her. There was no way the guards would search for her in buildings yet.

Once inside the building, she peered back one last time to see that the guards were gone and took a deep breath of relaxation. Thoughts raced through her mind. Who sent the guards? Did her father himself find out that she left? Or…?

As she steadied her irregular breaths, eyes closed, the tickling fragrance of roses and other flowers drifted into her nose, making her flinch and open her eyes. The scent was familiar— the few times she was around Consort Rui and a few other consorts who were her father's favorites, a similar fragrance surrounded them. There was no way that a Consort Rui was in this building though, right?

Eyes opened, she took a close look at her surroundings that she didn't look at before. She had entered the building in such haste that she didn't even bother to see what the building was, although now that she was looking around, she deduced that it was certainly a sight she had never seen in person before.

All around her, vibrant colors of magenta, green, and yellow lined the building, the colors flashy and a little unpleasant because of how flamboyant they were. At the center of the building, where visitors who came in would set their eyes on instantly, a few women dressed in similarly bright colors danced, while others in the back played instruments. Surrounding the stage, tables were placed, meat and wine set on top, and men of all types— old, young, nobles, merchants— sat around with pretty women dressed scantily, serving them wine and flirting. A few even had women practically sitting on their lap.

Xueying's eyes widened. No wonder she smelled a scent similar to the smells that were near her father's consorts. There were so many women here, all wearing perfumes, that it was obvious the strong scent of flowers would overwhelm her nose.

Hurriedly, Xueying turned to back away. She didn't know for sure what this place was, but she had an idea of what it was. Only one thing was sure— Su Xueying didn't belong in a place like this.

However, before she could step out of the building, someone seemed to notice her, grabbing Xueying by the shoulder. Along with the hand, almost instantly, a burst of that irritating flower perfume drifted in her direction, causing Xueying to nearly vomit because of how strong the scent was.

"Gongzi, where are you going?"

Awkwardly, Xueying flinched and turned around, taking a look at who was stopping her while shaking off the person's hand. It was a middle-aged woman with a demeanor different than the rest of the women dancing and flirting. Her clothes, nevertheless, were just as vivid in color. Internally, Xueying wondered why everything in this place had to be so exaggerated. The colors, scents… all of them were so strong that it hurt to open her eyes and breathe like a normal person.

"Gongzi?" After a few moments of pause, Xueying asked, seemingly forgetting that she was in disguise. The woman narrowed her eyes, and quickly, Xueying realized her mistake, correcting herself. "Oh, right. Um, I just, stumbled to the wrong place. I'll get going now, then."

She spun back to the direction of the exit, ready to run off again, yet that woman who was confronting her seemed to be even more stubborn, pulling her back. The woman patted her arm, as if she understood Xueying perfectly. "Gongzi, with someone as dressed as fine as you, how could you possibly mistakenly enter here? Besides, you must've seen our signboard in the front before entering. Didn't you read it? Our 'Hundred Flower Brothel' isn't called 'Hundred Flower' without reason."

"Brothel? Hundred Flowers?" Xueying repeated the woman's words.

Ah, no wonder there were so many women gathered around here, dressed in scantily clothes and serving these men. She had doubts that it was a place like what the woman said, but up until now, she was never sure…

Out of all the buildings she could've possibly entered to duck from the guards, Princess Su Xueying entered a brothel!